Is the wife of a foster son forbidden to the foster father?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, what is the ruling regarding the wife of a foster son? Is she forbidden to the foster father or not?
The Shaykh : The wife of a foster son: some scholars say that she is like the wife of a son by blood, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Ibn Majah 1937Sahih (Darussalam).
However, the correct view is that the matter is otherwise, and that the wife of a foster son is not a mahram to her husband’s foster father. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 1937Sahih (Darussalam), and he did not say: “and the in-laws.”
If a man were asked: “Are the wife’s mother and the husband’s father mahrams by blood or by affinity?” it would be said: “They are mahrams by what?” By affinity. And the hadith is:Sunan Ibn Majah 1937Sahih (Darussalam). Accordingly, the mother of a wife by fosterage is not a mahram to her husband, and the father of a husband by fosterage is not a mahram to his son’s wife.
This is also supported by the saying of Allah the Exalted regarding the prohibited women:[An-Nisa 4:23]. A foster son is not of your lineage. Yes.
The Shaykh : The wife of a foster son: some scholars say that she is like the wife of a son by blood, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Breast-feeding makes unlawful (for marriages) the same things that blood tie make unlawful.
يحرم من الرضاع ما يحرم من النسبHowever, the correct view is that the matter is otherwise, and that the wife of a foster son is not a mahram to her husband’s foster father. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Breast-feeding makes unlawful (for marriages) the same things that blood tie make unlawful.
يحرم من الرضاع ما يحرم من النسبIf a man were asked: “Are the wife’s mother and the husband’s father mahrams by blood or by affinity?” it would be said: “They are mahrams by what?” By affinity. And the hadith is:
Breast-feeding makes unlawful (for marriages) the same things that blood tie make unlawful.
يحرم من الرضاع ما يحرم من النسبThis is also supported by the saying of Allah the Exalted regarding the prohibited women: